Taetrus Insurgency
The Taetrus Insurgency was a brief armed conflict on the turian colony Taetrus in 2185. Located in the Mactare system, due to its distance from the turian homeworld Palaven, Taetrus grew increasingly autonomous. In 2185, this autonomy gave way for separatism. The first sign of separatism was when a commercial cruiser, the Tertius, was hijacked by at the time by unknown assailants. Flight recorder evidence showed that militants boarded the Tertius posing as civilians before taking control of the vessel with improvised weapons to Vallum, the capital city of Taetrus. The pilots of the ship, although complying with the terrorists at first, put the ship at a different trajectory than what the terrorists wanted. In the ensuing struggle, the Teritus verred even more off-course and crashed in the farmland of Taetrus and set fire to miles of farmland. The damage would have been worse, but it seemed that the pilots disabled the Teritus's FTL core, preventing a megaton explosion. It was eventually revealed that the group responsible was called Facinus, which grew out of the contempt over the Turian Hierarchy's management of colonial affairs. They wanted independence at any cost. Due to turian culture being the way it is, it meant the group was willing to fight to the last man to achieve their goal of secession. Although their first attempt failed, they eventually managed to launch a major offensive on the Taetrus capital of Vallum in April 2185. Vallum was hit with a blast that had obliterated its downtown area and left a crater 5 kilometers wide. Shockwaves from the blast were powerful enough to destroy buildings 11 kilometers away. Casualties were unknown, but were reported to be massive. The Radiatum, Taetrus's parliamentary building, was at the epicenter of the blast and is believed to be its primary target. At least 14 different groups claimed responsibility for the bombing, but in the end, it was Facinus that was responsible. The impact on the planet was immense. The debris from the blast blocked sunlight from reaching the surface for many months, causing a world-wide cooling. Plant and animal life died because of the influx in temperature. The city of Vallum itself was completely destroyed. Stories of the destruction quickly spread across the galaxy. The story of Octa, a child that was found under the debris of a collapsed building, gained particular attention from galactic media outlets. Facinus threatened more attacks until Taetrus gained independence from the so-called imperialists. Faced with that notion, the Turian Hierarchy prepared for war. While colonialist forces quickly established air and numerical superiority, the rebels had intimate knowledge of the terrain and support of many civilians. They retreated into the Dilvuian Wilds, a province which was notorious for its separatism, to hide from the colonialists. The marshes and swampland provided an excellent hiding place from Hierarchy forces. Human journalists likened the conflict to Earth's Vietnam War where the Viet Cong used the terrain against American troops quite effectively. Unlike Vietnam, however, the terrorists did not have the support of all the population. The galaxy at large supported the Turian Hierarchy and much of the planet did not appreciate losing their children and loved ones. Due to their support and the relentless effort of the Hierarchy, under Taetrus Primarch Idus Valen and General Partinax, the rebels were pushed into a defensive war. The consequences of the war was immense. As with all wars, cities were devastated and much of the planet's infrastructure and industry were in ruins. Tight corners and alleyways in many cities negated the technological advantage of Hierarchy forces making the conflict more deadly. The planet's environment was also devastated to lure out the rebels from their hiding places. The use of flamethrowers and chemicals to clear the swampland was devastating to Taetrus's ecology, but according to the Hierarchy, the action was deemed necessary. Civilian rights also completely restricted. This was abhorrent to human reporters investigating the conflict, but the restricting of rights was completely normal under turian law. Many civilians were put into safe camps until the end of the conflict and many more died being forced into them. At least one human reporter also died in turian custody, sparking international outcry. The war lasted for many more months, draining resources and morale from both sides. Eventually, Hierarchy forces defeated most of the rebels and cornered the terrorist leaders at the Kasatum fortress. Using an ingenious strategy developed by General Partinax, the rebels bombed the fortress using a thermobaric bomb on a parachute. The parachute prevented the kinetic barriers from activating. Everyone in the fortress died; which crippled the Facinus's movement. While some criticized the bombing, Partinax assured that it had to be done to end the war. With the destruction of Kasatum, reconstruction began. Those still loyal to the rebel cause still caused some disruption, but their potential for extreme destruction was a thing in the past. Reconstruction was a slow process and was not close to finishing when the Reapers arrived in 2186. They quickly overwhelmed Taetrus's defenses and turned the planet into a nightmarish processing center. Planetary forces using the environment were partially destroyed fighting Reaper ground troops in the open. Category:MarkRulez711 Category:Articles by MarkRulez711 Category:Turians Category:Conflict